"In other news"
I want to write about this week's SGA ep (3 out of 5), and about this week's Lost (OMFG, 10/10, finally a CAPSLOCK AWESOME episode). I want to write about my Remix assignment, which, yay because I know my remixee, and nay because I'll have a billion fics to read before I can choose which story to remix. I want to post a picture of my pretty shirt from last night, and maybe complain about the fact that I have two papers to write and I've been procrastinating, as usual. And also ask you guys why none of you have pointed me towards the Jimmy Kimmel/Matt Damon/Ben Affleck clips before? Because I don't know these things if you don't tell me!
But there's this thing happening in the south (and when I say south, I mean an hour's drive away), and I feel like that's what I should be writing about. Because it's an up-and-coming war (yeah, I brought back the tag), and for the people living in Sderot it's been war for the past 7 years and for those in Ashkelon it's been war for the last three days, and today, every time I refreshed the main news page, the body count rose more and more. (For those counting, 2 IDF soldiers dead, and about 60 Palestinians dead - all from today.)
And hey, most of you guys have soldiers fighting wars at this very moment. You know what it's like - "Hey, did you hear about those three guys who got killed, so sad, but in other news HOW PRETTY are Kyle Chandler's eyes?"... etc.
But sometimes it's hard to make that jump. Or rather, it's hard to show people, out in the open, how easy for me it is to make that jump. Because there's going to be a war and I'm here watching TV, and *gasp*, what will people think of me? Even if that's not what it's like, that's what it feels like.
(A note - I also hesitate saying "there's going to be a war" so confidently, but that is definitely the way the winds are blowing, as much as I hope to be mistaken. )
And then there's the question of how to write about the situation at all. Am I writing for myself, or am I writing to be read? Should I assume that whoever's reading knows enough to get references without me explaining them, and so I can toss out words like "Sderot" and "Qassams" and "the situation" right and left, or should I explain the situation more thoroughly with links to news sites and whatnot, before writing my reactions?
I've been asking myself these questions for a while. Especially since I there are probably lots (you know, relatively) of people on my flist who've friended me because I'm Israeli and it's interesting to get insight into a new country or culture, and I really do want people to learn more, to see my POV in addition to the news'. But I hardly feel like I'm an expert enough to give complete, not to mention unbiased, accounts of the situation, and when I do explain more in detail, I feel like I'm being condescending.
Since I've just remembered I can actually make polls now, a short poll to ease my mind, totally anonymous:
Poll
First poll! \o/
...or, tell me your thoughts in the comments. BTW, comments such as "This week's Lost totally rocked my socks off" are perfectly acceptable.
But there's this thing happening in the south (and when I say south, I mean an hour's drive away), and I feel like that's what I should be writing about. Because it's an up-and-coming war (yeah, I brought back the tag), and for the people living in Sderot it's been war for the past 7 years and for those in Ashkelon it's been war for the last three days, and today, every time I refreshed the main news page, the body count rose more and more. (For those counting, 2 IDF soldiers dead, and about 60 Palestinians dead - all from today.)
And hey, most of you guys have soldiers fighting wars at this very moment. You know what it's like - "Hey, did you hear about those three guys who got killed, so sad, but in other news HOW PRETTY are Kyle Chandler's eyes?"... etc.
But sometimes it's hard to make that jump. Or rather, it's hard to show people, out in the open, how easy for me it is to make that jump. Because there's going to be a war and I'm here watching TV, and *gasp*, what will people think of me? Even if that's not what it's like, that's what it feels like.
(A note - I also hesitate saying "there's going to be a war" so confidently, but that is definitely the way the winds are blowing, as much as I hope to be mistaken. )
And then there's the question of how to write about the situation at all. Am I writing for myself, or am I writing to be read? Should I assume that whoever's reading knows enough to get references without me explaining them, and so I can toss out words like "Sderot" and "Qassams" and "the situation" right and left, or should I explain the situation more thoroughly with links to news sites and whatnot, before writing my reactions?
I've been asking myself these questions for a while. Especially since I there are probably lots (you know, relatively) of people on my flist who've friended me because I'm Israeli and it's interesting to get insight into a new country or culture, and I really do want people to learn more, to see my POV in addition to the news'. But I hardly feel like I'm an expert enough to give complete, not to mention unbiased, accounts of the situation, and when I do explain more in detail, I feel like I'm being condescending.
Since I've just remembered I can actually make polls now, a short poll to ease my mind, totally anonymous:
Poll
First poll! \o/
...or, tell me your thoughts in the comments. BTW, comments such as "This week's Lost totally rocked my socks off" are perfectly acceptable.